A Time To Pause and Reflect……… We are nearing the end of our two week stay in Monopoli! I am just beginning to feel comfortable at school with the teachers and the students, finally getting the hang of things. As we participate in our daily wrap ups, I can see that everyone has their […]
Today the volunteers awoke to the sound of the ‘Mistral’, the famous wind that brought waves crashing into the shore just outside the Hotel Cleo. Our tranquil Adriatic Sea was transformed into a beautiful crashing and raging sea. School continued until noon and the volunteers could teach as many as four classes. Some went to […]
It is now day six of our volunteer experience. We arrived promptly at 8:00 A.M. at the school. Some of us went with teacher, Maria. She was a substitute teacher for a class of first-year students. Their level of English was very basic and I thought, “Even I can teach this class!” They were a […]
Which Transportation Do You Prefer? The students appear to prefer the motorcycles. We are now on day three of engaging in conversational English in Italy. After being with the same teacher for two days, I was assigned to Rita along with three other volunteers. We were each given groups to be in charge of in […]
Today was very satisfying. We arrived at school at 8 AM and rejoined our classes. My partner and I assisted teacher, Maria with her new first year class by sharing our background and responding to questions and correcting pronunciation. Things really began in earnest in Maria’s third year English class. We began with simple vocabulary […]
This is the first day of school for both the students and volunteers. There was a flurry of activity, with many kisses, and greetings from the teachers to one another. One teacher arrived with cookies. Everyone seemed genuinely happy to see each other. The bell rang and we were quickly sent off with our individual teachers. I was […]
Sunday, our orientation day began with two surprises. First, our team member from Calgary, was celebrating her ?? birthday. What better way to spend a birthday – in Italy. Our second surprise was a breakfast appearance from the lovely Rita, our Italy country host and teacher extraordinaire. She had a third surprise for us……our first day of volunteering […]
From sea to shining sea, from north to south, from the United States, from Canada – and from their hearts and souls – Team 185 is prepared to make a difference in the lives of their students and friends. We begin with gusto and experience knowing we will be the better for our time spent […]
Day 9 in Lima was a day of reflection for me – not because I had to contribute to Edith’s request to journal, but because I have learned so much on this mission experience. As an American, I thought our sense of pride was high, but after our visit to Pamplona, I would have to […]
Distance between people, doesn’t mean you can’t be close to their hearts! Two thousand six hundred eighty two miles is exactly how far I live from Colegio of Santa Elena (‘colegio’ means secondary school for those like me who don’t speak a lot of Spanish). But all those miles do not come close to how […]